It makes no difference what time it is, because anytime is a good time for Twelve Noon.

From Megadeth to Nickelback, Twelve Noon cover all the hard rock bases...

The full blooded debut of Twelve Noon, Saints and Sinners is going to be a head turner. Twelve Noon are categorized as alternative metal, but can easily be described as pure rock with some nu metal tendencies.

Hailing from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and formed in 2015 by Rob Heil and Michael Loew, Twelve Noon commenced performing covers in the Pittsburgh bars. With a great response to the new, original material they started incorporating into their live sets, the band decided to ditch the covers in the set and focus on delivering original music.

In May 2016, having enough to record an album they caught the ear of producer Bobby Balow who quickly brought them into his studio Raytown Productions to record their ten best tracks. The result was Saints and Sinners. This was released independently and the band proceeded to build their base with gigging through western Pennsylvania. This made quite a name for them and they were soon booked to support the likes of We Are Harlot and Texas Hippie Coalition. In Jan 2017 A&R executive Chris Poland signed the band to Eclipse Records.

Saints and Sinners is ten tracks of driving beats, clean and screamed vocals that carry the weighty emotion of the well thought out lyrics. These vocals and screams, in the soaring style of Breaking Benjamin, are provided by Michael Loew. Twin guitars of Rob Heil and John Devlin provide some pretty cool riffage and nice solos. The rhythm section of Tim Clark (bass) and Justin Runkel (drums) give the whole album a tight feel, driving all songs along nicely.

I found the following tracks are strongest:

Change My Ways: a good solid opener, with a drum intro before a heavy riff drives the song into the opening verse. I am introduced to the strong clean tones of Michael Loew, his voice belies the screams that will come later. The song builds up nicely into a breakdown and a powerful vocal scream to bleed into the solo before driving to the finish with a continuous double-kick drum beat before final guttural vocals.

Hope In Tragedy: a song with a driving rhythm accentuated by some keys and strong sounding riffs along with lyrics that you can just hear the emotion dripping from them. This song lyrically, tackles the dark subject of suicide, anxiety and depression. The band states that “it is an uplifting song to remind people of the bigger picture, time can heal wounds and life is still worth living despite troubling times.”

No Way Out: The initial single gives a good insight into the band. Strong riffs and cool licks, a great vocalist that can scream with the best of them in the breakdown. Being the introduction to the band it showcases the powerful side of the new band that will capture as many new listeners as possible. This is probably the heaviest track on the album and probably has the most screaming, so is an interesting choice of first single.

Bottom of a Bottle: is a track that reminds me of the feel of Wanderlust by Megadeth, with a bit of country in its bluesy rock roots.

Carry On: commences with an acoustic start then moving to big rolling riffs along with some soaring vocals. It could almost be mistaken for something that had been written by Nickleback and should receive a great deal of airplay should they decide to go that way.

With several listens under my belt now, I feel that Twelve Noon have delivered a strong rock offering that really holds up well over several listens. The songs convey pure emotion through the sound and lyrics and have an innate ability to hook you. It will translate nicely to the live arena as well.

Saints and Sinners is scheduled for release on June 9 through Eclipse Records.